SNOW
by CeeCee
Summary: The strings of fate bind us all. In a different life, what happens when the destinies of Kenshin, the cold son of a powerful warlord and Kaoru, a mere peasant slave, cross paths? A very AU feudal Japan, KxK.


_The strings of fate bind us all.  In a different life, what happens when the destinies of Kenshin, the cold son of a powerful warlord and Kaoru, a mere peasant slave, cross paths?  A very AU feudal Japan, KxK._

**Snow**

Long before the destined meeting of Himura Kenshin and Kamiya Kaoru in the Meiji Era, the strings of fate had already bound them together… 

_I won't let you die…_

Kamiya Kaoru leaned over the heavily blanketed boy, her knees shaking as they dug into the dirt floor.  She gently dipped a white rag in a basin of cold water, shivering.  She tenderly wiped the boy's forehead.  Despite the frigid weather, his condition had not changed, and he was still burning up.  Wait- no.  Kaoru felt his forehead.  His fever was getting worse.

_Yahiko, whatever happens, I'll save you…_

Kaoru slowly stood.  She winced as she straightened, a searing pain shooting through the scarlet lash marks that crossed her back.  That master… that despicable landlord… what a monster he was!  Kaoru had pleaded and cried at his feet for Yahiko to receive treatment, and he had given her only a cold stare and 20 lashes for insubordination.

No, things could not stay this way.  She needed take things into her own hands.

Kaoru gathered up her work kimono, filthy from the day's labor in the fields.  Spreading her best shawl on her shoulders, she walked over to the hearth and quietly set another piece of wood inside.  As she strode through the door and stepped outside, ducking under overhanging icicles, Kaoru looked back once more at the lying figure inside.

"I'll be back, Yahiko," she called softly.  "Wait for me." 

Soon, Kaoru was hurrying through the snowy evening, her straw flip-flops creating a string of imprints on the ground snow.  _My footprints will be covered soon_, Kaoru reasoned, as falling snowflakes began to collect on her shoulder.  She tugged at the corner of her shawl, trying to cover her lower arm, where her master had branded her and marked her his slave.  Kaoru knew that if any free man saw her, they would take her back to her master for sure.  Kaoru cringed inwardly at the thought.

After stealing through the slaves' encampment, Kaoru passed by her master's fields, trying to stay unnoticed in the tall grass by ducking behind trees.  She knew that most of the slaves would not turn her in, but she would not be surprised if one of them betrayed her to gain favor with the master.  Looks were always deceiving.

"Eh, Kaoru!  Is that you?!"

Kaoru visibly jumped, both her steps and her musing interrupted.  Gathering her shawl even tighter about her shoulder, she quickly turned around.  "Oh, Misao-chan, it's only you!"  Kaoru noticeably relaxed  her tense shoulders, realizing the voice belonged to her dear friend and fellow slave.

Misao furrowed her brows as she walked to the edge of the field, her long braid swinging behind her.  "Kaoru, what are you doing here?" the younger girl asked, trying to smile in her cheerful manner, but only succeeded in looking worried.

Kaoru dashed forward and lifted a finger to Misao, the other hand still tightly clutching her shawl.  "Shhhhhhhhh," she whispered, the girls' faces only inches apart.  "I'm going to the city to get medicine for Yahiko.  I'll back before anyone notices."

Misao stepped back, her eyes wide at hearing Kaoru's plans.  "But Kaoru-"

"No, I am going."  Kaoru's gazed into Misao's eyes, her deep green irises unwavering.  Kaoru continued, "If they ask for me, tell them that I went out into the fields."

Misao stared for a moment but finally nodded.  She had known Kaoru long enough to know that when she was resolute, her mind could not be changed.

"Arigatou," Kaoru smiled slightly at her ever-true best friend and re-entered the forest, leaving Misao to gaze after Kaoru's slender figure disappearing into the snowy evening.

"Good luck," Misao called softly.

Nightfall was rapidly approaching.  Kaoru pushed her aching body through the forest near the highway to the city, trying to keep sight of the road while remaining hidden from the travelers on it.  Her silent, swift, and deft movements over tree roots and under tree branches were beginning to wear her out.  Now, the sharp pain coming through the lash marks on her back were becoming increasingly pronounced.

Suddenly, Kaoru's toe caught an unusually high tree root.  She fell forward with a thump.  Kaoru silently cursed herself as she picked herself up from the crunched autumn leaves.  _Did anyone hear?_  Kaoru silently asked herself.  She soon received her answer.

Saitoh Hajime, a senior samurai who happened to be traveling, stopped and looked over his shoulder.  He squinted in the fading sunlight into the dark forest near the highway.  No, that crunching was not his imagination.  His amber wolf eyes discerned a dark figure slowly standing up among the trees.  Saitoh turned to face the figure in the distance, crossing his arms.  "Come out here," he commanded calmly.

Kaoru froze at the sound.  "Come out," the deep voice called again.  "Don't even think about escaping."

She panicked.  Despite the man's threat, Kaoru's first impulse was to run.  But taking a second look at the man, Kaoru decided against the notion.  Something about those long legs and the confident way he stood told her that if she tried to flee, she would be quickly overtaken.  Kaoru considered her options.  The man looked like he was an upper class samurai.  Kaoru, a mere peasant slave, was nothing but an annoying fly to him.  Maybe she could talk her way out…

Kaoru meekly emerged out of the forest and came face to face with one of the most intimidating men she had ever met.  With his arms crossed and his katana hanging at his waist by his flowing hakama, Saitoh looked like business.

"Show me your arm," he commanded of Kaoru, who was clutching her shawl in an awkward position that covered the brand on her lower arm.

Kaoru stared innocently, pretending to not know what Saitoh was referring to.  But after he gave another cold amber-eyed gaze, she slowly extended her arm to reveal her slave scar.

"What were you doing walking in the forest?" he questioned Kaoru menacingly.

"Um, collecting mushrooms," Kaoru quickly supplied.  "I'm collecting mushrooms."

Saitoh glared.  "You'll have to do better than that."

Kaoru was stammering when another samurai strode up to Saitoh.  "Sir," he called, "I have news."

Saitoh gave an _I'll be right back with you _look to Kaoru before turning to the younger man, who seemed to be very perturbed about what he was saying.  He soon caught Saitoh's full attention in a heated discussion.  Seeing Saitoh's back to her, Kaoru carefully watched the carriages passing by them.  At the moment when the two seemed most engrossed in their talk, she grabbed the side of a carriage, pulled herself under it, and was carried away toward the city.

Saitoh saw the girl jump away in the corner of his eye.  He did not flinch.  _Hmph.  _The samurai thought to himself.  _What a worthless slave._

Inside the carriage, a young man with flaming red hair felt his carriage thud slightly.  He narrowed his eyes, his sharp senses telling him that someone had hitched a ride.  The man opened the door slightly.  "Come out here… now," he commanded in a chilly voice.

Kaoru, who had just begun to feel as if she had finally escaped from danger, tensed again.  She planned to quickly drop down, until a young man stuck his head downwards under his carriage and took a look at her.  "A girl," the man quietly stated, surprised.

Kaoru looked at the cold eyes, but felt she perceived the shadow of a kind man.  Kaoru began to plead.  "Please don't send me back!  Please don't!" she begged.

The young man seemed to soften for a moment, and finally decided to reply to the figure that was still swaying under his moving carriage.  "Get up here," he commanded.  Kaoru, feeling relieved for the moment, began to pull herself up.  The man looked at the girl – no, young woman – who was clambering into his carriage.  She wore a soiled kimono and a thin, dark shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders.  Though her hair was long and a stuninng black, it was tied back with a now dirty ribbon and was stuck with snow, dried leaves, and twigs.  However, despite the girl's filthy appearance, her eyes were a illuminating, rich emerald.

The young man shut his carriage door, and his gaze fell to the lower arm of the girl opposite him.  "You are a slave," he simply stated, his voice and gaze becoming icy once again.

Kaoru was taken aback by his abrupt coldness, but managed a nod.  "I just need to go to the city to buy some medicine," Kaoru explained to the young man nervously.  His flaming red hair and cold crimson eyes frightened her.  The young man watched as Kaoru fingered her slave scar apprehensively.

"It is late," the man observed, still impassive. 

Kaoru realized the man's suspicions.  "I know, I know," Kaoru replied quickly.  "My master let me come out," she lied.  "Another slave is sick."

"You would go to the city in the cold night for just for that?" the man responded, unconvinced.

"Hai," Kaoru asserted doggedly.  "We grew up together- he's like my little brother."  Seeing the young man's cold stare, Kaoru quickly supplied, "I would do anything for the person."  Kaoru straightened up and smiled directly at the man across from her, hoping to persuade him.

_Do anything… for a person._  The man gazed at the young woman's face.  Despite her low status, she seemed so vigorous and… strong.  Sighing inwardly, he closed his eyes.  Back then… there was a time when he once believed in that strength, that belief in the power of life.  But… no more.

Kaoru was surprised at the young man's reaction.  He seemed so sad, so suddenly.  "What is your name?"  Kaoru asked, the soft smile still on her face.  Her eyes widened.  "Oh, gomenasai," she reproached her outspokenness that was unseemly for a slave.

"Himura," he replied, his eyes still closed, ignoring her discourtesy.  "Himura Kenshin."  Kaoru gasped.  Himura Kenshin- this was the adopted son of the powerful lord Katsura!  Kaoru leaned back, fingering her slave scar again, frightened.  The young man ignored her reaction, opened his crimson eyes, and simply stated, "You may stay on this carriage until we reach the city."  His voice once again reverted to its cold tone.  Then, he closed his eyes again and leaned back, hand calmly resting on the katana between his legs.

Kaoru watched him rest.  Though the man seemed to be sleeping peacefully, she noticed that his hand held onto his katana in such a position that the blade could be drawn the instant the he was disturbed.  _He lives in fear_, Kaoru thought to herself.  _He's no different than me._  Soon, the carriage reached the city gate, and Kaoru swung the carriage door slightly open.  Before she slid out into the icy night air, she took a final look back at the seemingly sleeping young samurai who had saved her.

"Arigatou," she called, "Arigatou… Kenshin."

The young man, alone again in his small carriage, spoke to himself in surprise.

"She called me… Ken… shin."

Review and make my day… pleeeease?  All right, all right, I know that is horrible… it doesn't deserve any reviews, maybe not even flames.  Well, this word document _is_ named "blah" right now (it was named that b/c I didn't even know what as I was writing when I first saved this).  *sigh*  Oh well.

**A lil' note to Koe-san**:  lol, this is the unfortunate result of trying to sit down and write Starless Times… and failing terribly!  Darn writer's block and the awful case of absentmindedness!  I stand by what I said about this kind of ficcie… and unless people care, I'll definitely un-post this embarrassment ^_;


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